Aegina: The Second Greek Island

      

The first Greek island that I ever visited was Hydra, the weekend after I arrived in Athens for the first time.  Though this nearby island is picturesque and beautiful, with steep little staircases, white buildings, and tavernas ringing the harbor, I was tired, lonely, and new to the people and country around me when I visited.  Needless to say, I enjoyed my October trip to the island of Aegina considerably more.  For this trip, Claire, Eleni, Lizzie, and I traded the type of enclosed speed-ferry we took to Hydra for a considerably larger one.  Unlike Hydra, Aegina does allow cars on the island, and this ferry was equipped to carry them.  You could also go up on deck.  Witness me painting my toenails on the way there, and take a look at the view:

I have no idea why you would want a car on the island of Aegina.  Here's an idea of its size: we wanted to visit the ruins of a temple to Apollo, but according to the map at the dock, it was on one side of the island, and the port was in the center.  It took us about 10 minutes to walk there.  Aegina does not have the striking geography of Hydra, but I found it a more approachable, friendly island.  Lucky for us, the small museum was free on Sundays, so we walked through on our way to the actual ruins.  From the ruins, we staked out our beach for the afternoon.

To my delight, we shopped our way back through town, and we stopped at this cute boutique-like shop that an older man was supervising.  I bought a gray cotton dress with a cowl neck and pink and purple drawings of an apartment down the front - it looks much more Paris than Greek island to me, but it is very cute!  Then, we settled in to eat lunch at a harbor-side taverna.  The cod with tomato sauce and the grilled octopus proved delicious, plus our usual bread, tzatziki, and horiatiki (Greek salad), and some grilled zucchini.  And, yes, that is octopus you see hanging on the line in the window.

Finally, the beach!  The water, though cold, was perfectly fine for swimming, and I was relieved that I thought to wear my bathing suit.  We bought some pistachio products, as the island is famous for such.  (I purchased a gooey divinity-like candy with pistachios that I ate on the ferry home, and little jar of pistachio honey that I later ate with a spoon.)  Then, a look in the harbor-side church before we boarded the ferry for home.  Cue awesome sunset photo.